Last week, scientists at the University of Central Florida announced and demonstrated a possible way to cure Type-1 diabetes, an auto-immune disease which destroys insulin producing cells in the pancreas.

It's not a magic wand, but it could be the next best thing. Researchers at Virginia Tech and the University of California at Berkeley recently developed a new way to treat cancer: with a zap. The treatment uses a process called electroporation to selectively eliminate tumours with minimal surgery.

An important step in combating infectious diseases like HIV is exploring the origin and evolution of the disease. Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is the equivalent of HIV for monkeys and chimpanzees. It is believed that HIV arose from SIV, which was then transmitted to humans by contact with chimpanzees. In a study published in PLoS Pathogens, scientists from the University of Arizona in Tucson have found that SIV may have infected the African green monkey population much later than previously thought.

In addition to providing much-needed energy boosts, coffee has now been shown to protect your skin from the sun. According to a study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, coffee increased mice's natural defense against pre-cancerous cells by 400 percent.

On Wednesday, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced a new radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer, designed by oncology group Xoft, Inc. The new treatment, called Axxent&reg; Electronic Brachytherapy System, allows for Medicare patients to receive treatment while delivering minimal radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.

Scientists at the Institute of Food Research have identified a molecule that could explain why some people are affected by food allergies while others remain allergy-free. Led by Claudio Nicoletti, the scientists determined that a molecule Interleukin-12 (IL-12) plays a key role in resisting food allergies in mice. Published online last month by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, their research could eventually lead to a treatment for food allergies.

Scientists at the Department of Neuroscience and Center for Neuroscience Research (CNR) at Tufts University School of Medicine recently showed that glial cells of the nervous system may have a more active role in neuronal activity than previously thought. In their research, published in the August 2 edition of Neuron, the scientists found that a specific group of glial cells is required to control Drosophilia circadian behavior, the flies' internal 24-hour clock.

While it was once believed that harmless bacteria used up their host's energy by inducing an immune system response and increased the aging process, scientists from the University of Southern California have now shown that bacteria are actually not as bad as one may think.

Last week, scientists at Penn State University announced the discovery of a new planet orbiting a star ten times larger than our sun. The find will help astronomers determine the evolution of a solar system, resembling our own, as the central star ages and expands, and will be published in the November issue of the journal Astrophysics.

It is an astonishing fact that man shares 99% of his genes with the humble chimpanzee. Now, a team of researchers from Duke University has shown that differences in dietary preference and cognition are largely due to regulation of genes rather than their sequence.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may help patients with severe brain injuries who are in the minimally conscious state (MCS). This comes after a team of researchers led by Dr. Nicholas Schiff of Cornell University and Joseph T. Giacino of the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, in conjunction with a team from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, achieved dramatic results with the technique. They reported their work in last week's issue of Nature.

In exploring the benefits of green tea, researchers at the Arizona Cancer Center determined that chemicals from the drink can increase the level of key detoxification enzymes in humans. Because these enzymes help rid the body of toxins, the increase could explain why green tea seems to play a role in preventing cancer. The research was published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

A study, lead by Amit Bar-Or of the Montreal Neurological Institute, investigating a new DNA vaccine could eventually lead to great advancements in treating multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system. This research, to be published in the October 2007 edition of Archives of Neurology, showed that the vaccine known as BHT-3009 both countered some ill effects of MS and improved patients' lives.

Last week, a study was published by researchers at the University of Montreal linking genomic factors to alcohol and tobacco consumption. This study explored the theory that an individual's alcohol and tobacco intake is due to a genetic predisposition rather than the influence of external forces. Researchers taking part in this discovery managed to pinpoint specific chromosomes in human DNA that link a person's desire to consume alcohol or tobacco. The results were published in the study, Genome-wide Scan for Genomic Determinants of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in French Canadian Families.

When it comes to Malaria, a disease that still kills over one million people every year, mosquitoes are usually our worst enemies. When the mosquitoes suck the blood of an infected host, plasmodium, a protozoan, passes into its blood. The insects act as a carrier of the disease - allowing bacteria to pass into their next victim when they go for their next meal. The malarial parasites use the mosquitoes not only as a vector for spreading infection, but also as a growth chamber, maturing inside the mosquitoes gut.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. This issue is devoted to the very big; our authors guide us into realms ranging from the environment to the search for dark energy. Whilst pollution indexes globally provide figures on net air pollution levels, Wagner et. al. have investigated the composition of that pollution and the effect of weather conditions in Claremont, California. They conclude that the one factor which significantly affects pollution levels is wind speed. Interestingly, other weather factors like temperature and humidity do not play as crucial a role.

Research into the way humans perceive and interact with digital media and information can bring useful insights in our increasingly digital age. In a pair of papers by students involved in the Rhode Island REU, we see that such an endeavor yields both interesting and valuable results.

Environmental scientists commonly study net air pollution levels, but rarely analyze the inorganic ionic composition of that pollution and the effect of weather conditions on that air pollution together. In order to determine the inorganic ion components of and weather condition effect on particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) in Claremont, California, we used a Particle-into-liquid-Sampler with Ion Chromatography (PILS-IC) system. This is the only study of its kind to employ the PILS-IC system in Claremont.

Imagine you are Rebecca. Or that she is your sister, your aunt, or your friend. Rebecca lives in a semi-urban town in South Africa - an illegal settlement made up of homemade shacks with limited access to clean water and toilets. At the age of 24, Rebecca is happy to be having a baby, since her partner wanted to start a family. She doesn't live with him yet, though he tells her he is saving to get a place for the two of them. He has been telling her this for 3 years. For now, Rebecca lives with her sister, who has her own shack that she shares with her daughter.